Introduction

This chapter discusses why should a historical study on the origins of the Western concept of masculinity give such a predominant role to Alexander the Great. It gives an overview of a Greco-Roman and Medieval patriarchal culture where man was the standard by which others were judged. The volume starts with an introduction, explaining the sources, survey of previous research and provides an overview of the study of gender and the methods applied in the study. The principal sources of the study, including Diodorus of Sicily, Curtius, Plutarch, Arrian, Justin, the Alexander Romance tradition, Walter of Châtillon and Libro de Alexandre, are introduced. The overarching research questions of this book are as follows: what masculine ideals did the stories of Alexander the Great promote in the premodern world, and how were these gender ideals reproduced to strengthen or critique the predominant expectations of men.